Travels of an Australian Swami

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Monthly Archives: April 2013

Srila Prabhupada’s darshan room in Melbourne temple has been kept as a memorial since he visited in 1975 and 1976. When Prabhupada was first shown it he asked, ” this room is wonderful, what is it used for?” The devotees said, “this is your room Prabhupada.” To that he replied, ” Oh, all for me?”

Next to the darshan room was his bedroom and next to that was a bedroom for his servant. Whenever Srila Prabhupada was in residence the devotees had to be quiet outside to not disturb his translation work. Prabhupada would get up early in the morning and by 1.30 or 2.00am he would translate and give his commentary on Srimad Bhagavatam looking up the comments of the previous acaryas.

In the darshan room, preserved from the time of Srila Prabhupada, is his desk, globe of the world, eating plate/utensils, chaise longue, harmonium and other articles. Many devotees and guests come to visit and take the blessings of Srila Prabhupada. The darshan room is also used for various preaching programs and at other times quiet japa meditation.

APPEARANCE OF LORD RAMA
The dynasty of Maharaja Raghu is glorified because Lord Ramacandra appeared in that family. Lord Ramacandra appeared in the Iksvaku, or Raghu, dynasty. He became King during Treta-yuga, but because of His good government, the age was like Satya-yuga.
Lord Ramacandra exemplifies an incarnation of Godhead who descends for the mission of paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam—protecting the devotees and destroying the miscreants.

I was able to attend the Rama Navami celebration at the Bhakti Centre on the Gold Coast. It was a joyous occasion and in the evening there were bhajans, plays, poems, aroti and the Lord’s wonderful prasadam.

Whether one is a demigod or a demon, a man or a creature other than man, such as a beast or bird, everyone should worship Lord Ramacandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who appears on this earth just like a human being. There is no need of great austerities or penances to worship the Lord, for He accepts even a small service offered by His devotee. Thus He is satisfied, and as soon as He is satisfied, the devotee is successful.

I met Indradyumna Maharaja in Mayapur this year at the guru, sannyasi, GBC sanga. We hadn’t seen each other for a while so it was nice to get each others association again. Maharaja is always busy travelling around the world and organising his preaching tours so I feel fortunate to get any association with him at all. We have known each other for decades going right back to when we all came to see Srila Prabhupada in Mayapur.

Maharaja told me that he was coming to Australia and New Zealand for a short tour starting with a retreat at Govinda Valley, just south of Sydney. His god brother Bada Hari, Sri Prahlada, Gitanjali and others would be there for a weekend of kirtana, lectures and prasadam. He would also hold an initiation ceremony for new and second initiates. The whole affair was organised by his god brother Pratapana Das who is in charge of the Lotus Room at our Kings Cross centre.

The Blues Fest is a festival near Byron Bay that attracts more than 100,000 people every year. As the name suggests, it is host to music bands from all over the world that perform on over half a dozen stages. It has been going for over 10 years and this year names like Paul Simon, Santana, Robert Plant, Chris Isaak, Status Quo and others headlined.

The devotees from New Govardhana have set up camp there from the beginning. Their main activity is to sell prasadam to the throngs of people who frequent our site. This year some 20 to 30 devotees were needed to man the stall because around 10, 000 people bought prasadam and books.

The menu consisted of a salad selection as well as subjis, savouries, sweets and drink. Our stall was one of the most popular food venues at the festival and the devotees worked hard day and night to provide sumptuous prasadam to all.

Satananda Krsna das, a disciple of Jayapataka Swami and Yasoda Sakhi dd, a disciple of Gopala Krsna Maharaja, were born into devotee families. Satananda Krsna grew up in Malaysia and then moved to Australia. Yasoda Sakhi grew up in India around the Iskcon Juhu Beach temple and moved to Australia after getting married.

Both of them went to our Christchurch temple for some years with Satananda involved in the management and Yasoda involved more on the deity worship side of things. They were a big part of the community and the devotees were sad when they left for our temple in Adelaide to help with service there.

In Adelaide they an integral part of the management and render important service for the temple and community. The situation at our temple has gone through some challenging periods over the years but with the help of these two stalwart and surrendered devotees we have seen a dramatic improvement at all levels of temple activities.

Hema Krsna Das and Ananda Kamala dd are devotees who formerly lived in Malaysia but in the 90’s moved to Perth Australia. They live together with their mother Yamuna dd and other members of the extended family.

They are now part and parcel of the Perth devotee community and participate in all the temple functions. Along with other family members they also run the Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant in the Northbridge area of downtown.

Yamuna dd, Hema Krsna Das and Ananda Kamala dd have literally hosted hundreds of kirtan, class and prasadam programs at their house over the years. Whenever a guru, sannyasi or senior devotee visits they always extend an invitation to their house for lunch.